J. & A. Henderson

J. & A. FERGUSON, Successors to John Henderson & Co., Wholesale Tea Dealers, Wine Merchants, and Grocers, 67, Union Street, Glasgow ; and at 191, Cowcaddens Street.

    The annals of the old and distinguished house now selected for brief notice present an illustration of commercial longevity and prosperous trading of almost unequalled importance and interest. The nucleus of the large and influential business now carried on by Messrs. J. & A. Ferguson, as successors to the once eminent firm of John Henderson & Co., was founded as far back as at the close of last century — the founder, Mr. William McEwan, having first commenced business in 1794. The position of the business at the time of the Georges, and its distinction at the present time, may be said to afford a very striking contrast.

    As we learn from the published records of the house, the original establishment was “low-roofed, dingy, and old-fashioned”, and formed one of the conspicuous landmarks of ancient Glasgow. It was not until 1827 that the premises assumed a more dignified appearance, and the introduction by Mr. McEwan of plate-glass windows was the first step in the direction of shop display of which there is any intelligible record. As an example of the early part which this house bore in bettering the position and interests of the grocery trade, we may quote the following from “Glasgow, Ancient and Modern” :—“This firm, in 1844, and in subsequent years, by a series of letters on the admission of foreign sugar at the same duty as Colonial, and also on the reduction of the tea and sugar duties, which they repeatedly addressed to the ministry of the day, and also to all members of Parliament at the time, was thereby instrumental in inducing Her Majesty’s Government in 1846 to adopt the views of equalisation and reduction of duties from 66/- per cwt. on the foreign to 10/- per cwt., which they did by a graduated scale on all sugars and on tea to 1/- per lb., by which the consumption of both these articles was placed within the reach of all classes of the community”.

    This high tribute to the firm’s enterprise — at a time when representations to the legislature were regarded as ineffectual, and when all the most ambitious efforts of combined trading agitation would have been certainly inoperative — will speak for itself ; and to the firm’s operations then — as well as during the intermediate development of this business — the trade of Glasgow must ever stand indebted. The firm have at all times taken a leading part in improving the appearance of their premises, and their well-known establishment in the Trongate (with the ornamental steam engine in the window) was a fine evidence of that taste for artistic display which the firm continue to manifest.

    It was in 1879 that the present partners, Messrs. Ferguson, removed to the busy and prominent thoroughfare of Union Street, and their operations have extended to the Cowcaddens, where there are now for the most part carried on the elements of the old business of Messrs. J. Henderson & Co., to which the firm succeeded, and of which they were long the practical managers. The latter establishment is one which more than fully justifies its claim to age and dignified attractiveness. The fittings and appointments are in superb taste, and bear all those features appropriate to the class of trade they represent. The cellars and wine vaults possess exceptional facilities of preservation, and it would be impossible to expect anything to issue from those cool and airy recesses but in that meritorious condition for which the whole wines and spirits of the house are famed.

    It is not within the province of this brief sketch to devote more than a passing word to the several excellent and leading commercial features which have characterised this house as a dozen among Glasgow’s mercantile pioneers. The eminent service which the predecessors of the firm rendered to the tea-consuming public is fittingly supplemented by the valuable advantages Messrs. Ferguson continue to afford in this special department. They are not merely Tea Merchants making discriminate selections from the noted centres, but they are also connoisseurs and blenders, entering upon the whole practical details of the trade ; and they possess such ready means of tasting and blending as enables them to provide a choice series of blends unrivalled as regards strength, aroma, and flavour. They have made tea an item of first importance, and are in the position to secure any advantage from market fluctuation, which their free-lance purchases for cash enable them to do. Their family trade in tea is very great, and they sell more of this commodity than many firms exclusively devoted thereto.

    In all the other departments of a comprehensive grocery trade, they provide the best attainable products of the home and foreign markets, and their own special brands of Baking Powder and Corn are superior to any in the market. They have adopted their charges to suit the exigencies of modern petition, and were among the first in this city to adopt the now universally approved system of providing goods at wholesale prices for cash.

    Even as regards wine and spirit trade Messrs. Ferguson guide the operations of the business on such principles as preserve its popularity and support among the least affluent. The Invalid's Port, the Union Blend of the finest Old Highland Whiskies, the Champagnes of the house, and the exquisite blends of very old Brandy are all specialties which need be no more than named ; and while the recherché standard of the firm’s wines is best secured in the eminence of the shippers with whom they deal, and systems of import they observe, the purity of the various spirits is only attained by long and careful preservation, and the discriminate blending of several of the best products of the Highland stills.

    As a firm whose goods must ever command the appreciation of families interested in acquiring table dainties and liquors at the most moderate prices, Messrs. Ferguson have spared no exertions to maintain the leading elements of freshness and sound quality, both of which represent their trading criterion. Their liberal and attentive dealings have appealed as much to the coast and country connections as to their numerous clientele in the city ; and at the head of what is unquestionably the oldest established house of its kind in the western metropolis, Messrs. Ferguson continue to be favoured with that trade and patronage which, however well founded in the prestige of the house, is nevertheless the invariable reward of well-applied courtesy, energy, and enterprise.

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